Three former Archbishops of Dublin have been accused of dumping a known paedophile on a parish in California.

The Irish police are also criticised for their handling of the 1986 allegation of abuse of a nine year old boy, reported by the boy’s parents.

At the time Fr McCabe was staying in a west Dublin house owned by Chief Superintendent Joe McGovern. He was interviewed by two officers in connection with this incident but the file went missing.

The Irish Times says that on that same evening McCabe visited Chief Superintendent Joe McGovern and

there, according to the Murphy report, he ‘made certain limited admissions to the chief superintendent who did not convey them to the investigating garda (police), but who did convey them and the fact of the Garda investigation to his local parish priest, Fr Curley.”

Chief Superintendent McGovern told the Murphy Commission ‘he considered Fr McCabe’s behaviour to be a matter for the Church to deal with’.

The Murphy Report said: “The detective handling the investigation contacted an official in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) seeking advice. The investigation stopped. No further inquiries were made by the gardaí (police). “Even though the gardaí (police) knew that Fr McCabe intended to return to the USA, no warrant was sought for his arrest.”

The Murphy report concluded: “The Archdiocese’s handling of events was facilitated in significant ways by the gardaí (police).

“The Commission is of the view that this particular Garda (police) investigation was marred by Church interference which was facilitated by the gardaí (police) and which was material in allowing Fr McCabe to evade justice.

“Between 1988 and 2003 not a single inquiry had been made by the gardaí (police) in relation to this matter. In the Commission’s view, it is difficult not to conclude that the renewed interest in the complaint in 2003 was prompted more by a fear of public opprobrium then by any realistic prospect of successfully concluding the investigation.

“The connivance by the Gardaí (police) in effectively stifling one complaint and failing to investigate another, and in allowing Fr McCabe to leave the country is shocking.

“It is noteworthy that the Commission would not have been aware of the Garda (police) activity in question were it not for the information contained in the Church files.”

A police spokesman said they would not be commenting on Chapter 20 until they had an opportunity to read it.